Scarface – Blu-ray, bullet count, f-bomb tally

Scarface Blu-ray cover

Scarface Blu-ray coverCall it what you will, a film from the early 80s, or a documentary and style guide for drug barons ever since 1983, Scarface is to be released for the first time on Blu-ray tomorrow.

The Scarface Blu-ray edition of course includes the film in high definition, with a 7.1 soundtrack, all housed in a “limited edition metal slipcase packaging”. Want more? How about 90 minutes of new bonus material produced for the Blu-ray release, plus there’s an additional disc in the package, a Digital Copy disc, containing a copy of the film that you can copy onto a computer or portable media player.



It’s a violent world the characters live in, as you’d expect from Cuban criminals making it big in the Miami drug scene. The film is violent, but it’s for me there’s a comedy in the violence, it is so over the top. Does that say something my taste in films? Perhaps. But watch scenes such as the silent-movie-like acting of the white-suited Cuban politician murdered early in the film, or the facial tic-riddled first scene for F. Murray Abraham’s character. See the dour Detective Munch from ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ appearing as a club comedian (not a stretch really, as he was originally a stand-up comedian). And of course there’s the Tony Montana meltdown in the last 30 minutes, which is more than a little comedic. Again, that could just be me.

Scarface has become something of a cult film over the years. Al Pacino is magnetic in the lead role, though I think his performance is a little uneven, at its strongest in the middle section of the film. Other actors appearing – early in their careers – include Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Steven Bauer.

Scarface – Blu-ray bonus content

Bonus content on the Blur-ray edition of Scarface includes:

  • The Scarface Phenomenon: A new documentary, covering the controversy generated by the film at its release, and its influence since that release.
  • The World of Tony Montana: Crime experts outline the world that real drug lords inhabit.
  • The Rebirth: Brian de Palma, Martin Bergman, Al Pacino and Oliver Stone discuss the inspiration for the film, and the evolution of the script.
  • The Acting: A look at how the film was cast, and at the methods of director Brian de Palma’s in extracting performances from the actors.
  • The Creating: A documentary looking at the casting of Scarface, production design, production problems, and the problems the filmmakers had in trying to have the film rated “R” in the USA.
  • Scarface Scoreboard: I think is my favourite little feature. This pop up keeps a count of how many times the word ‘Fuck’ is said, and how many bullets are fired. The f-bomb work is solid, generously sprinkled throughout the film. But the bullet count… quite low for most of the film, but watch it FLY in the last 10 minutes!

Scarface on Blu-ray – price

The Blu-ray edition of Scarface is in stores tomorrow, 31 August, 2011, and will have an RRP of $39.95.